1. Paradigms and paradigm shifts
Module 01.2 COP4020 – Programming Language Concepts Dr. Manuel E. Bermudez

2. Paradigm definition The paradigm shift

3. Definition of paradigm
Thomas Kuhn (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions): "… accepted samples of practical methods in science.” (keyword: accepted)
Adam Smith (Powers of the Mind): ”A shared set of assumed facts. Water to the fish, a paradigm explains the world and allows us to predict its behavior. When in the middle of a paradigm, it is difficult to imagine any other.“ (keywords: fish in water)

4. Definition of Paradigm (cont’d)
Willis Hartman (An Incomplete Guide to the Future): "… a basic way of perceiving, thinking, valuing and doing things that are associated with a particular vision of reality.” (keywords: particular vision)
Marilyn Ferguson (The Aquarian Conspiracy): "… a framework for thought… a scheme for understanding and explaining certain aspects of reality.“
(keywords: understanding, explaining)

5. Definition of Paradigm (cont’d)
Joel Barker (Discovering the Future: The Business of Paradigms): " … a set of rules that define limits, and establish what’s necessary to be succesfull within those limits.“ (keywords: rules, defining behavior)
IMPORTANT: Paradigms tend to have VERY FEW rules, and humans have a STRONG tendency to resist letting them go.

6. The Paradigm Shift A change in rules: old rules not only stop working,
but they GET IN THE WAY.
Examples (in general):
Nomadism to Sedentarianism.
Geocentrism to Heliocentrism.
Creationism to Evolution.
Catastrophism to Gradualism.
Regionalism to Globalization.

7. The Paradigm Shift (cont’d)
Examples:
Rise (and fall) of Japan as an economic superpower.
Fall of the Soviet Union.
South Africa abolishes apartheid without bloodshed.
College degree no longer a ticket to the middle class.
Computers (and Internet) for everyone.
Offshoring of IT jobs (IT skills as a commodity).

8. The Paradigm Shift (cont’d)
Examples (in computing):
Structured programming.
Object oriented programming.
The WWW.
“Towers of Hanoi”
The .com boom (and bust).
Machine Learning.

9. The Paradigm Shift (cont’d)
Paradigm shifts are sudden.
Timing is VERY difficult to predict.
Change is instigated by an “outsider.”
The new graduate, a scientist moving from one discipline to another.
Unfamiliar with the established paradigm.
Not “vested” in the old paradigm.

10. The Paradigm Shift (cont’d)
Example:
“If I had thought about it, I wouldn’t have done it. The literature is full of examples that show that this cannot be done”
-- (Spencer Silver of 3M, inventor of Post-it notes).

11. summary
Paradigm characteristics: accepted, fish in water, particular vision to explain reality.
Paradigm: small set of rules defining behavior, very hard to let go.
Paradigm shift:
Sudden change in rules.
Old rules become a liability.
Timing is difficult to predict